gospel
CD: Prince - Piano and a Microphone 1983Thursday, 20 September 2018
Knowing a deceased artist's archives are available for re-release is a double-edged sword. Will there be a shoddy flood of any and every old bit of tat a la Jimi Hendrix? Will there be half-arsed, half-finished and even fake songs bodged together by... Read more... |
Mavis Staples, Union Chapel review - grand gospel dame still doin' it at 79Thursday, 12 July 2018
“We have come here tonight,” announces Mavis Staples, “to bring you some joy, happiness, inspiration - and positive vibrations!” It’s a declaration that the irrepressible Mavis, celebrating her 79th birthday today, routinely makes at her concerts -... Read more... |
CD: Beth Rowley - Gota FríaMonday, 25 June 2018
Gota Fría, or “cold drop”, is a Spanish weather phenomenon associated with violent rainstorms, when high pressure has caused a pocket of cold air to dissociate itself from the warmer clouds. Meteorologists, please excuse my basic and probably... Read more... |
A Change is Gonna Come, Brighton Festival review - lively, winning jazz adventureWednesday, 23 May 2018
Watching this band in action is a treat. They gel absolutely and play off one another in a manner that’s easy and mellow, yet also sparks by occasionally teetering on the edge of their virtuosic abilities. The songs played throughout the evening at... Read more... |
CD: Ry Cooder - The Prodigal SonThursday, 10 May 2018
Ry Cooder is not only one of the greatest American guitarists of his time, a virtuoso who uses his technical mastery to make music with extraordinary soul, but he also has his heart firmly in the right place. On this new album, a close collaboration... Read more... |
CD: Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco - You're Driving Me CrazyThursday, 26 April 2018
Van Morrison has always been drawn as much to jazz as anything else. There is a natural swing to his voice, and his phrasing, melisma and familiar vocal mannerisms have always suited the medium well, from early excursions on Astral Weeks, through... Read more... |
Arena: Bob Dylan - Trouble No More, BBC Four review - up close and personal with Gospel BobSaturday, 31 March 2018
Dylan’s Gospel years inspired and rankled in unequal measure – with the critical brickbats and audience boos often drowning out the strength and beauty of the impassioned musical ministries delivered by Dylan between 1979 and 1981, gathering around... Read more... |
CD: Mavis Staples - If All I Was Was BlackSunday, 19 November 2017
The queen of R&B is no stranger to struggle – the Staples Singers, led by Pops, played a key role in the 1960s civil rights movement, emerging from the gospel circuit as so many great black singers did. Mavis’ first paid gig was with her family... Read more... |
The Best Albums of 2017Tuesday, 14 November 2017
Disc of the Day reviews new albums, week in, week out, all year. Below are the albums to which our writers awarded five stars. Click on any one of them to find out why.SIMPLY THE BEST: THEARTSDESK'S FIVE-STAR REVIEWS OF 2017Alan Broadbent:... Read more... |
CD Special: Bob Dylan's Trouble No More review - he’d never sound betterWednesday, 01 November 2017
After more than 35 years of subterranean bootleg life, Bob Dylan’s incendiary gospel shows and sessions from 1979 to 1981 are seeing the light of day as volume 13 of the Official Bootleg Series. Trouble No More comes as a regular two-CD and deluxe... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: PP ArnoldSunday, 08 October 2017
Anyone who finds Eric Clapton and The Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb stepping up to offer their services as their producer is obviously special. It’s a view reinforced by knowing Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Small Faces were already their... Read more... |
CD: Imelda May - Life. Love. Flesh. BloodWednesday, 05 April 2017
As Imelda May releases her fifth CD, it can’t but help that Bob Dylan has come out as a fan – it was, she wrote, "like being kissed by Apollo himself". No doubt his buddy T Bone Burnett passed him a copy of the album, for he produced it in Los... Read more... |
